global_hockey_leaguefandomcom-20200215-history
League History
The Global Hockey League was founded on November 19th, 2008. The league had introduced 12 teams, with 4 of them being NHL teams, 1 ECHL team, 1 dormant CHL team, and various junior teams seeking minor league support. The teams were, as follows: The Colorado Chiefs, the Colorado Eagles, the Colorado Select, HRCA Inline Hockey, the New Jersey Devils, the New York Rangers, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Rocky Mountain Rage, the Tampa Bay Lightning, Team Canada, Team England, and Team MTN. Dew. 2008-09 season The 2008-09 GHL season was the innagural season for the new league. The season was 42 games long to accommodate the lack of teams in the league (otherwise an 82-game season would've been played). The Colorado Select finished first overall with a 38-4 record, lead by star forwards Tim Young and Al Hamilton, the Select were the most intimidating team in the league. The playoffs was single elimination (one game series) to accommodate the lack of funds to pay arenas to host more games. The 4 teams that missed the playoffs were the Rocky Mountain Rage, HRCA Inline Hockey, the Colorado Eagles, and Team MTN. Dew, who didn't win a single game all season. The Global Hockey Championship Final was played at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and the New York Rangers won it, beating the Colorado Select 5-4 in overtime. In the Rangers locker room, star forward Ryan Callahan said "It feels great to be a champion. I'm very lucky to be with a great group of guys who are willing to give it their all. It just feels awesome to be the winner of this championship". Original 12 teams The original 12 teams from the 2008-09 GHL Season. m8_qQax5l4InivmPmmYxLoQ.jpg|Minnesota Chiefs|link=Minnesota Chiefs tmp_cover100.jpg|Colorado Eagles (ECHL) Image.ashx.jpg|Colorado Select SUNP0137.JPG|HRCA Inline Hockey 127.gif|New Jersey Devils (NHL) 144.gif|New York Rangers (NHL) Pittsburgh_Penguins7.jpg|Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL) chl--rocky_mountain_rage_2006-07.gif|Rocky Mountain Rage (CHL, inactive) nhl--tampa_bay_lightning_1993.gif|Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL) Team_Canada_Hockey.jpg|Team Canada SUNP0138.JPG|Team England mountain-dew-blast.png|Team MTN. Dew 2009-10 season The 2009-10 GHL Season was one of inconsistency. Team MTN. Dew went from worst to first, finishing the season 40-2. However, they were eliminated by the Colorado Select in the first round of the playoffs 17-2. The Select went back to the Global Hockey Championship at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, USA. They played against a tough HRCA Inline Hockey team, and the championship game went into 30 overtime periods, from 11:00 PM to 5:00 AM. The final goal was scored by Colorado's leading scorer and captain Tim Young, who scored five- hole on HRCA goalie Rob Laurie. HRCA's Steve Finn won the scoring title trophy, toping the league with 198 goals on the season. HRCA goalie Rob Laurie won Goalie-of-the-year with his 15-straight shutouts and a .900 save percentage. 2010-11 season The 2010-11 GHL season was the season of experiments and radical moments. For the first time in the league's history, the season opener was played in South Africa, in order to boost hockey awareness in the soccer/football-dominated country. The game was played between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Colorado Eagles. The Eagles won the game 4-3 in overtime. The winning goal was scored by Ryan Tobler. The Colorado Eagles finished first overall with a 22-20 record. They made it all the way to the Global Hockey Championship, beating the New York Rangers in the first round, and the Rocky Mountain Rage in the Second round. The Championship was played at the Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. The Eagles won the game 8-0 over Team England. Greg Pankewicz was named League MVP for his leadership and his superiority on the ice overall. Rocky Mountain Rage goalie Scott Reid shared the Goalie-of-the-Year Award with Pittsburgh Penguins Goalie Tom Barrasso. Both Reid and Barrasso had a .800 save percentage. The league had experimented with exhibition games throughout the regular season, most of them dealing with the thought of outdoor hockey. A Stadium Series was played in locations like The University of Minnesota Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota, Center Court at Wimbleton in London, England, Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, and Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. In the Minnesota Stadium Series, HRCA Inline Hockey beat the Colorado Select 3-1. The temperature in Bloomington was -3 degrees farenheit. The Stadium Series in London was the hardest one to fit the rink in because of the tennis court's size, so a smaller rink was used. Team England played against Team Canada. Team Canada won the game 7-2. The temperature in London was 55 degrees farenheit and raining, which was not very winter-like. The Los Angeles Stadium Series was played between the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils. The Devils won the game 6-1. The temperature in Los Angeles was 70 degrees farenheit, so extra refrigeration was used to keep the ice frozen, and they had to change the time of the game from 12:00 Noon to 7:30 PM. The temperature during the day was 90 degrees farenheit, and the ice was covered by a heat-resistent tarp. Finally, the Colorado Stadium Series was played between Team MTN. Dew and the Colorado Eagles. The Eagles won the game 4-3 in overtime. The winning-goal was scored by Eagles captain Greg Pankewicz. The temperature in Denver was 40 degrees farenheit. 2011-12 season The 2011 GHL season was supposed to be the Season of Expansion, but the league couldn't find markets outside of Colorado and Minnesota, where many teams were cluttering the two states. The season started late due to a lockout that spent half the season. However, instead of taking games away from the season, the league decided to play the full 42-game season, just at a later date. For the second straight season in a row, the Rocky Mountain Rage finished first with a 42-0 record. In the playoffs they beat Team England in the first round 5-1, but lost to the Colorado Select 8-4 in the second round. The Championship was played at the Luzhniki Ice Pallace in Moscow, Russia. The Select faced off against Team MTN.Dew, who were lead by Ulf Nillson and Anders Hedberg, as well as star goalie Jim Park. The Select, however, were not intimidated by either Nillson's or Hedberg's talent level, winning the game 3-0. This would mark the Select's 2nd Global Hockey Championship title. Rage star center Clay Plume won both the scoring title and the MVP award, and goalie Scott Reid shared Goalie-of-the-Year honors with Team MTN. Dew goalie Jim Park. both had a .750 save percentage. 2012-13 season The 2012-13 GHL season saw a new outdoor game to start the season. It was called the Player's Classic, and featured the Colorado Eagles versus the hottest team in the GHL, the Colorado Select. The Select beat their in-state rival in dramatic fashion, winning the game 15-1 at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Select would also finish first with a 40-2 record, but would lose to Team Canada in the first round. This would mark the end of the Colorado Select's dominance in the GHL. For the first time in GHL history, a TV deal was made worldwide to broadcast the GHL playoffs. ESPN and ABC were given rights to broadcast the playoffs, and the Home Team Sports Network would have rights to broadcast the championship. The 2013 Global Hockey Championship was played at Germany's Veltins Arena between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Colorado Eagles. The game started off with the Penguins dominating. However, when the 3rd period started, the Eagles took aim at the championship title, and soon tied the game at 3. Then, late in the 3rd period, Eagles defenseman Michael Forney scored to give the Eagles the lead. Ryan Tobler scored at the buzzer to give the Colorado Eagles their 2nd title in 3 years. In the Eagles locker room, Ryan Tobler commented on the win: "I feel pretty good. I lost every game i've played this season, and before the game started I knew I had to step my game up or else I would be gone forever (the team would let me go). It's just awesome". On the other side, in the Penguins locker room, goalie Tom Barrasso commented on his team's loss: "Why did we lose? Well I thought we shut the lights out the first 2 periods, but apparently things got out of hand. We were doing really poor on defense, and I wasn't doing a very good job goaltending. But I guarantee one thing. I'm going to bust my ass every season I play in this Global Hockey League to get back here because I got a taste of it this year, and that taste is never going to go away. I'm going to bust my ass and win one of these things. It'll happen". 2013-14 season On August 9th, 2013, GHL commissioner Mario Ardais announced that the league could not agree to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), so the league would go under a lockout. The lockout lasted 250 days, cancelling the season. Ardais commented on the lockout and the cancelled season: "I'm deeply sorry for those who were expecting a GHL season. However, you can't run a league without a cooperative business. If the menbers can't cooperate, we can't go anywhere. The lockout we saw this year was one that we will learn from, and we will make sure it won't happen again". However, during the lockout, 4 new GHL franchises were awarded: Category:LeagueCategory:Teams 2014-15 season The 2014-15 GHL season started with a bang- and a big bang at that. The GHL expanded by 8 teams, awarded to Minnesota, Colorado, Michigan, Manitoba (Canada), and Florida. On October 13th, 2014 the GHL awarded 2 more teams, awarding the cities of Houston, Texas and Kladno, Czech Republic. The GHL implemented an official preseason starting in early September, and was played to positive reviews. The GHL's first-ever preseason saw Team MTN. Dew finish tied for the highest record with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The league has scheduled the regular season to start sometime in late October, as there are some holes that the expansion teams need to fill.